Artist Mr. Zhou Ning in Critical Condition Due to Persecution

It was reported that Mr. Zhou Ning, a Falun Gong practitioner from Jinan City, Shandong Province, was arrested on September 12th, 2007. Since then he has been detained and persecuted in the Jining City Detention Centre. At present, he has been sent to the affiliated hospital of Jining Medical College for recovery. He is in critical condition.

Mr. Zhou, 38, works at the Special Education Polytechnic School and teaches hearing impaired students arts and crafts. He is also one of the founders of the school's arts and crafts program, and used to be the dean of the school. He successfully held Woodcarving Exhibits many times in China, America, and Denmark, and drew widespread attention from academic and artistic circles. His works were collected by the Chinese Art Museum, Shenzhen City Art Museum, and by many celebrities, both domestic and overseas.

Mr. Zhou suffered persecution again and again for persisting in his belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. He was arrested several times, dismissed by his workplace, his residence was confiscated, and he was forced to be destitute and homeless. On September 12th, 2007, he was again arrested in Jining City. On October 18th, 2007, his arrest was approved by authorities. Later he was detained in the Jining City Detention Centre, where he suffered brutal abuse.

Mr. Zhou held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. As a result, he was force-fed by the guards in the detention centre. He was severely wounded both mentally and physically. It was learned that he was taken to the hospital for an injury to his lumbar vertebra, and he is in critical condition. We call for kind-hearted people around the world to pay attention to this issue and offer support.

Jining City Detention Centre: 86-537-2033077

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/5/9/178078.html